Posted
by
CmdrTaco
on Tuesday August 31, 2004 @09:45AM
from the reading-about-stuff-to-see dept.

Wired is running a story about the Giants of Anime which discusses numerous things happening on the anime front, including the new Ghost in the Shell movie, and the upcoming Miyazaki release "Howl's Moving Castle". This is something of a background piece for people somewhat unfamiliar, but it also covers a lot of interesting bits that the fans might enjoy as well.

If you like Ninja Scroll you should see Wicked City. Many don't rate it as highly but I found it to be quite original and well, wicked. Both are excellent and quickly wipe the "cartoons are for kids" grins off the uninitiated.

Other favorites of course include Akira and Ghost (though I prefer the manga) and Appleseed but also Golgo 13 and Angel Cop.

Battle Angel was a disappointment, after the wonderful manga.

Like most other cases of book to film adaptations, sometimes the book is better, other times the

I don't like anime which I consider dull and boring.Akira was a fantasdtic comic but didn't make it on a screen.I do not know the other you mention but there's ONE anime which actually carried me, it was Hotaru no haka" [imdb.com].Very few anime were THAT convincing.

Ah yes, Grave of the Fireflies. I've traumatized several people into never ever watching animation again with that film. It's not the sort of movie I just whip out when people ask what they should see, it's definatly something you need to get mentally prepared for first.

You need to get mentally prepared (or unwound) after it too. I read [nausicaa.net] that when it first aired in Japan, it was a double-feature with Totoro. That seems like a very good idea to me; I watched them together too, and if I hadn't watched Totoro right after Grave, it would have been a lot tougher...

Actually, they talk about this on the North American DVD release. Apparently, they tried showing it two different orders (Totoro/Fireflies and Fireflies/Totoro), and found that people absolutely HATED Fireflies when seen after Totoro.

I do agree Cowboy Bebop was one of the best Anime movie I have ever seen. I'd put it up there with Ninja Scroll.

I don't remember "Tank" being in the movie.... just the series.

Fo those who don't know, "Tank" is the song played at the beginning of the TV episodes....awesome, just awesome, and like Farscape, any show that has the balls to be that creative and get away with it deserves my respect.

Although I did like Spirited Away, it had a very Alice in Wonderland sort of feel. I can't stand listening to the English dubs though- that little girls voice in the English dubs is so whiney and annoying.
But yeah, Akira is the best. It is just fantastic. It's like blade runner and clockwork orange all in one. The manga is much better (because there is just so much more there), but the movie is just drop dead amazing.
Next I would say Vampire Hunter D, and the sequel as well. Then would come Macross

Honestly, though, I think no full-length anime film can ever come close to a full-length anime series with 26~ episodes.Sure, the movie can be amazing and very cinematic, but 1.5-2 hours is not enough time to build a character with the sophistication some anime builds them.Sure, movies can build very complex ideas and characters (regardless if it's JP or US movie/series) but usually it makes you think "well, that's a character I only seen for the first time an hour ago..." instead of learning about the character from 10-20 episodes, in many different situations and mini-stories.

Ofcourse, this applies to movies vs series regardless of their origin and ofcourse there are also stupid, shallow series and good, complex movies.

Exactly, because no movie can compare to the nearly 100 epesodes of Naurato, or the story in a series like Noir or Trigun.
I sit each week and download the new Naurato, as if I were waiting on a new epesode of Law and Order on television. For me, some of the best tv is actually anime off of the internet.

Honestly, though, I think no full-length anime film can ever come close to a full-length anime series with 26~ episodes.

More like 13 episodes. Most 26 episode series these days break it up into two major story arcs, and manage to give you two good stories in 26 episodes. But there are a lot of 13 episode series lately. And for what it's worth, Cowboy Bebop was like this, only they mixed in the episodes from the Vicious story arc (which I didn't care for) throughout the entire run.

Akira has the most impressive animation, but My Neighbor Totoro is the greatest. It proves you don't need violence and conflict to have a great story, only great characters. I've seen it compared to the Winnie The Pooh stories (the originals, not the Disney crap), which also show how a flawless children's story can be enjoyed by everybody.

I agree. I bought the VHS 20th Century Fox version for my kids when they were little and we've watched it probably over 50 times. My daughter is 13 now and when we saw the DVD on the sales rack, she made me buy it, even though we're waiting for the Disney widescreen/re-dub/subtitled version next year.

You hit the nail on the head about the violence and conflict. It amazes me that this is a kid's movie that doesn't bore them (or any adult that I have met) despite the fact that it has no (a) slapstick humo

It's funny this topic came up today, I just read my Wired magazine last night in bed and really enjoyed the article about the new anime coming out this year. I'm especially excited about Steam Boy.

As someone who's seen most of the major Anime films, I would have to put my vote for story with Lensman, overall narative with Spirited Away, and animation wise I'd go with Final Fantasy (it really is a good movie, though I think they should of made it fantasy based instead of sci-fi based, but oh well).

Should it be purely entertaining? Tell a involving story? Make you think? Is the animation important?

Even then you aren't finished. Exactly what do you find entertaining. What does make a story involving. What stuff have you already thought about and don't need to be reminded by a movie?

The one that made me think was "Grave of the fireflies" [imdb.com] a movie you could compare with the western "Empire of the sun" [imdb.com]. Both tell the what happens to kids in times of war. I liked one review that claimed fireflies was the best movie he ever watched and never wanted to watch again.

Of course if you like Akira and Ghost in the shell you might find fireflies very slow moving even boring. Perhaps. Depends for what reason you like the first two.

Another highly regarded movie you don't list is "Angels egg" [imdb.com]. One of the few movies you could watch without knowing any japanese and still be able to "understand" what is going on.

This will probabaly get me modded down but the movies you list are the typical "hollywood approved" anime movies people in the west have heard about. Doesn't mean the movies are bad or any less then their more unknown, in the west, siblings but if you really want to find the greatest anime movie ever you need to do a little bit more watching. Akira may then still be the greatest to you but at least you will have a longer list to show you watched anime other then the ones with a western approved release.

Oh and my favorite movie? I don't really have such a thing. There are far to many great movies I have seen that I like for different reasons. I am afraid that if I pick a single movie that "scores" best in all my catogories that I am falling into the hollywood trap of creating movies to appeal to everyone that end up appealing to no-one. Just saw a docu on Red Dwarf. American movie studie wants to cast Hugh Grant as Lister.

I havent seen this movie listed in anyones posts:http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093207/

Wings of Honneamise. its such a simple movie, with little action, but it was the first anime I had ever seen that had a "normal" plot. It told a story and did it extremely well, held my attention without resorting to giant robots and the like. much like some of the movies you listed.

The TV series is good too, but it is totally different from the OVA. The TV series is action and a fair bit of comedy, while the OVA (Called Samuri X in the US) is dark and violent.

The TV series is 95 episodes long. The last third of the series has a bi drop off in story quality because the show outran the Kenshin manga that it was based on, so the storyline was no longer based on it.

The only anime they show (once again, exclusing Cowboy Bebop) is senseless crap like Inuyasha in its cut-down, edited-for-TV format, and Trigun, which, well, let's face it - TriGun is just Dragon Ball Z +1. The animation sucks, the story sucks, the wriring sucks, the voice acting sucks... it's just there to serve as an idol for socially akward 14 year

All anime that has ever been run in the Adult Swim block (from memory and the list here [animenewsnetwork.com] ):

Blue Gender

Cowboy Bebop

FLCL

Gundam 0083

Inuyasha

Pilot Candidate

Kenshin

Trigun

The Animatrix

With Hunter Robin

Yu Yu Hakusho

Case Closed/Detective Conan

Lupin the 3rd

Trigun

There are a few shows I left out that were borrowed from Toonami, and some on that list migrated back to Toonami in the end. However, my point is that many of those do not suck and are not DBZ clones, and are not meant for children.

Witch Hunter Robin, Wolf's Rain and FLCL are some of the best I've ever run across. Witch Hunter Robin and Wolf's Rain both took me several episodes to get into them, but they're pretty amazing once you get to know the characters. FLCL has more of a pubescent fantasy feel to it but that's kind of the point with that one. So I don't think you're giving the anime lineup enough credit.

Their line-up of 15 minute shows is pretty twisted. The episodes I've seen of Harvey Birdman have been very... wrong... But they're all very hit-or-miss. I guess it's hard to keep up that level of twisted humor consistently across an entire season. I like 'em though.

Seems like you're only watching the week-night shows. Try the ones they play on Saturday evening/night. Gundam Seed, Wolf's Rain, etc. They only show one episode per week but the quality is significantly higher.

Personally, I find it interesting to see how anime is having a greater influence in all art forms with time. It has gone from a cult-ish art form to now being featured in music videos (Linkin Park's sensational "Breaking the Habit") as well as a majestic scene in Tarantino's Kill Bill. And these are the obvious ones. As the article says, we have seen it in the Matrix, etc. This is not something that is going away anytime soon...

Anime has been in music videos since at least Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" [matthew-sweet.com] and that was back in 1991, already three years after Akira hit the U.S. shores.

My litmus test for anime becoming mainstream is when people will talk about a film like Spirited Away or Perfect Blue (that is to say, no fighting robots), and not call it an anime film -- or see it because the story is good, not because it's "anime".

On the other hand, geeks are remarkably fickle about anything percieved as mainstream. I'm not saying that we automatically dismiss anything that is popular, but there is a strong preference for the exotic and unusual. Even when something is both normal and loved by geeks, we tend to take it to the next level (ala Star Wars/Star Trek and the flamewars fought over which is better).

For Amine, I really can't see the genre maintaining it's geek cred as it becomes widely accepted and influential (note: I'm reffering to the west here, not Japan where Anime is obviously percieved quite differently). Ask youself: if this was Pokemon specifically, would it be featured on/.? I don't know if we can overcome this attitude that popular = bad, and unfortunately I'm not sure that this perception isn't justified in many cases; obscurity _is_ frequently good for artistic integrity. You might regret it if the genre becomes mainstream.

"For Amine, I really can't see the genre maintaining it's geek cred as it becomes widely accepted and influential (note: I'm reffering to the west here, not Japan where Anime is obviously percieved quite differently).... You might regret it if the genre becomes mainstream."

What you haven't taken into account is that there are lots of 'streams' of anime. Things like Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Miyazaki (i.e. Spirited Away, Totoro, Mononoke, etc.) have been a lot more mainstream and accessible to North Ame

"There is a very VERY negative stigma against anime fans in japan. In the US, anime fans are considered dorky social outcasts. In japan, anime fans are considered perverted child rapists and pedophiles. I would argue that the negative stimga against anime fans is much, much worse in japan then the states."

Where's your source for this? Really, how do you know? I've seen it mentioned in trollish articles written by ignorant folks, but I have no reason to believe that it's anything other than an urban lege

No, Anime is fairly popular in Japan. Although there's a definite stigma against "otaku," or the smelly obsessive losers. I can't say that people automatically think otaku are rapists. They might imagine them to be pedophiles, but not "active" pedophiles.

I, for one, embrace the popularization of anime. It makes more anime easily accessable for less money. Its a lot nicer then having a friend on a military base in japan ship you raw tapes off of tv.

I suppose I can be snobby and say "I remember back in the day.." but I dont wish for those days any longer. Holding a script in your lap while watching an anime is more difficult then it is often worth.

I really (really) hate to admit to liking anime, due to tha stigma attached.

All the same the stuff you're talking about represents the worst of the form.

Take a look at things like the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex episodes, or Planetes, or Cowboy Bebop (though I'm not as in love with that as many are), or alternate reality stuff like Last Exile. There's some impressive storytelling and amazing animation.

I'll venture a guess that the top story on the anime front is some guy hovering in the air screaming at another guy hovering in the air - with various colorbursts displayed behind them all the while. They continue this for several minutes, building up to a short, rather anti-climactic fight.

I'm not much of an Anime fan, and usually refrain from commenting on related stories. However I came across this site [uguu.org] in a comment in the IOCCC story yesterday, and thought it was pretty cool.

Lots of ASCII-art type Anime characters there, except that all of it is source code.

I saw Steamboy a month ago, and wrote a small review for my friends on my blog [lucs.lu.se]. May be of interest to some here:

[Steamboy] is a new anime by Katsuhiro Otomo (of Akira fame), set in England in 1851, around the time of the world exhibition in Londons Crystal Palace.

Visually, the movie is stunning. The characters are expressive and individualistic, the backdrops are beautiful, and, of course, the movie is replete with larger-than-life nineteenth-century steam technology. There is enough dramatic machinery and unlikely "science" in this movie to sate even the most rabid steampunk fetishist.

The story is complex and varied. I'm not going to detail it here - mainly because my Japanese just isn't up to the task of actually understanding all the twist and turns. I lost track about halfway through, to be honest, and Ritsuko too had trouble follwing it, in part because the speech tended to be fast and garbled. Nevertheless, they have managed to create believable characters with at least some depth, while at the same time all the clichés we know and love are well and truly fulfilled. The villain, for example, has an partial facemask and mechanical hand - I guess that adding a white cat and a monocle would have been a little over the top.

Did I like it? Yes, with a few reservations. This is a looong movie - 2h20m to be more precise. A bathroom break before seeing it is advisable. An of course, I can't really judge the story fairly when I don't really understand it - the end seemed to me to be a little artificial (not to mention wildly contrary to any scientific intuition), but as I couldn't follow the character motivations and interactions by that time, I can't be sure I understood it correctly.

Should you see it? If you like anime or steampunk, absolutely! And even if you don't, it has enough of an Indiana Jones kind of feel to it that I think you'll be entertained in any case.

He's not the only one. I personally know someone who dressed up as Sailor Moon (actually, he alternted between that and (Card Captor) Sakura) at Anime Mid-Atlantic 2004. Big fat black guy with a very effeminate voice. He's a good man, if a little too into his fandom of choice.

The primary reason I tend to enjoy anime more than I enjoy hollywood produced movies is the lack of pandering present in much of anime (much, not all, there are many anime that do pander, but I digress). The reason this is so was touched on briefly in the article. Many artists have total or near-total control of their story from the time they first think of it untill it is released, that just doesn't happen too often in hollywood (and when it does, I tend to like those movies) Many anime producers are allowed to do their work unhampered by focus groups or executives telling them what can and cannot be in their work.

Another reason I like anime is that much of it is not watered down as most hollywood fare is, when someone dies it isn't some quick event that is glossed over; it's messy, it's gory, and it looks painful. I think one of the most unhealthy concepts I have ever seen in mass media is the "looney tunes" treatment of violence. Portraying violence as harmless and fun is much more disturbing to me than seeing more realistic violence with reprecussions attached. I could go on and on, but it would likely fall on deaf ears anyway.

An acquisition and release date haven't been announced, but are basically formalities. For comparison, it took about a year for Spirited Away to make it from Japanese theaters to US theaters [nausicaa.net].

The film is already scheduled for theatrical release in France early in 2005.

It's also making an appearance at the Venice Film Festival. I don't expect it to win 'Best in Show' like 'Spirited Away' did at the Berlin Film Festival, but it's great to see animation put on equal footing with live-action unlike the Acadamy Awards.

Coming to the Staples Center! Stare in amazement as the Giants of Anime [wired.com] take on the Monsters of Rock [asseenontvmusic.com]! Can the vixens of Sailor Moon [projectanime.com] survive in the Spiked Cage of Death for three minutes with the hellcats of L7 [smelll7.com]? Cringe in horror as the KISS Army takes a full frontal assault from the Red Ribbon Army [myfavoritegames.com]!

As allways, we'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!

Gundam barely got a mention. No shoujo (girl's) anime mentioned at all. Not much mention of anime TV series...

Lot of good anime is based on novels too, though they're rarer. I feel that most novel conversions are great (though my Japanese isn't good enough to read novels) but I often feel let down by anime based on an original manga series. Patlabor, Hellsing, Azumanga Daioh and Gunslinger Girl are good examples of manga conversions though. I'm probably picker than average though.

Some examples of anime based on novels: Slayers (TV series a lot more slapstick than novels though), Read or Die, Scrapped Princess, Crest of the Stars (and follow-ons), The Tweleve Kingdoms.

Crest of the Stars is one of my favourite series - battles in a 2D universe, the interesting Abh culture and language (the author made up his own language and character set), and some very interesting characters. In pretty much any western series, if you have a race of genetically engineered people, it pretty much has to be a distaster - not so in CotS. Also, democracy vs royalty - democracy has to be superior... but not in CotS. Pretty fun. Ahh... if they'd only make another series...

The Tweleve Kingdoms is awesome too. Doesn't seem that way at the start, but it has some incredible plots and character development. More!

Wired ignores the most creative figure involved with anime today -- Yoshitoshi Abe. Abe was scarcely out of school when his character designs helped bring "Serial Experiment Lain" to life. This groundbreaking work would have been a far more arid exercise had it not been populated by Abe's characters.

Abe (and part of the Lain team) went on to make the interesting, but not entirely successful "Niea_7". For this, Abe contributed not only character (and environmental) designs, but the basic story.

Abe then went on to create one of the most beautiful and moving animated series ever -- "Haibane Renmei". Inspired more by the films of Angelopoulos and Kore'eda than other anime, this understated story of young people reincarnated in a bucolic limbo is not only wonderfully animated but remarkably sophisticated theologically (in a fundamentally non-denominational fashion).

Most recently, Abe has teamed up with much of the crew from Lain to make his most visually compelling work yet -- "Texhnolyze". This dark dystopian work adapts the fragmented narrative methodology of John Brunner's greatest sf novels ("Stand on Zanzibar", "Sheep Look Up") in a thoroughly cinematic fashion.

Any discussion of anime giants that doesn't include Abe (and his colleagues) is incomplete.

I get the impression that Hollywood is blocking Anime. Could it be that they see it as a threat? My experience is telling me that Anime is no longer a cult thing. I'm 27, and my youngest brother (11 yrs) to people my age (30s) are watching and collecting anime. It's available in mainstream stores now (Best Buy, movie stores) and video rental places offer them.

But I don't see them in theaters. Spirited Away didn't even make it into as many theaters as Gigli! Live-action anime-like movies get even worse treatment. Granted, Kill Bill was successful, and the comic movies do well. But Shaolin Soccer was a hit in China and Japan, but it can't seem to make it over here. My younger bros wear Naruto t-shirts to school, but I hear that will never be licensed in the US.

Well not really wich is why it is in quotes. Rather it is the fault of the people who watch disney.

For some reason the idea is in the west that only live action is capable of telling "real" stories. These people just like the author of this article always have to point out the turd fighting super giant robot girls. At the same time neatly forgetting that this kinda stuff appears in hollywood movies as well. Or exactly what is "Attack of the 50 foot woman" about again?

There are other reasons to, so here is my bullet lists of reason why anime isn't being seen in the rest of the world.

Cartoons are for kids. Partly the reason but doesn't explain then why not more anime is shown in childerens programs.

Language barrier. Japanese is a very difficult language. Not just to learn but also to translate. Americans ain't good with foreign languages. The german detective series derrick is highly regarded. Do americans know it? Doubt it. So either you dub it, hard to fit english into japenese mouths, sub it, americans can't read, edit it, get pokemon and turn anime into american kid cartoon.

Culture flows naturally from the above. Sex is the simpest. Compare the pokemon manga as released in japan and in the west. In japan the girl got BOOBS. The american release has that edited out so they appear almost flat chested or at least showing a lot less cleavage. More then a few manga/anime I read have underaged drinking. Japan is a nation of boozers and it doesn't seem to considered a problem although it is illegal. That however is a nono in america.

But while nudity and sexyness is more accepted in japanese anime, sex itself is far more restricted. Not at all unusual for at least one of the leads to be a virgin.

Simply put the people in manga/anime can behave to different for western tastes. Or at least that is what tv/movie bosses think.

All this may make it difficult to show most manga/anime in the west. Exactly how do you market an extremely popular series like Ranma? At kids? It got nudity. At adults? The main chars don't even kiss. Do you translate typical japanese things to their western equivalent even if that ruins any chance of the joke coming across? Do you explain the joke? Make up your own?

I already see such things when I watch The Muppets on dutch tv. 2 stories for the price of one. The english audio and the dutch subs.

Disney was a business man and story teller who really studied the art of animation. He certainly has tried to create animation that was not just for kids but sadly most people think disney == kids. There fore cartoon == kids.

To bad those people will miss out but it is there loss not mine. Disney isn't to blame. People that dismiss intresting forms of story telling because it takes a certain form are. It is like saying casablance is slapstick because laurel & hardy is black & white.

If you are going to blame anyone blaim the catogorirs. Who on earth would put Shindlers List in a category with Police Academy? Then why is Grave of the fireflies listed in the same category as Pokemon?

I like how articles like these focus on anime productions that exist outside of the mainstream. Flicks like Innocence, Howl's, and Steamboy are about as far from regular Japanese animation as you can get. Innocence and Steamboy mostly failed at the Japanese box office, but hope to do well internationally. Howl's will do as well as any Miyazaki film, but Ghibli movies have an appeal that reach far outside the anime fandom.

Contrast those works and some of the others mentioned here (like Yoshitoshi Abe's stuff) to what we typically see in the Japanese anime mainstream: giant robot that, magical girlfriend this, harem anime that, 150-episode fighting anime this. Sturgeon's Law applies here.

anyone else amused at how the article calls Production-IG the "Miramax of Anime"? I'm sure they meant that in a nice way...

"I really never understood people who watch anime - what's exactly the fun of watching a cartoon in a category where a lot of real movies are, imho, better ?
I have a fun roommates who watch anime all day, and really, i don't get it... so what's the fun ? Is it just the same as some people at the age of 40 still read comics ?"

Ah yes, the words of someone who has not actually sat down to watch a good amount of it. Actually watch the movies. Get something directed by Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky. Prince

"Ah yes, the words of someone who has not actually sat down to watch a good amount of it. Actually watch the movies. Get something directed by Miyazaki. Castle in the Sky. Princess Mononoke. Grave of the Fireflies. Nausicaa. You will understand."

Have. Hated it. Don't understand the attraction at all. Subjected to endless hours of the drivel by several friends of mine who utterly love anime.I find it chock full of nonsensical plots and bloated with mood-breaking utterly silly/stupid scenes.

"...what's exactly the fun of watching a cartoon in a category where a lot of real movies are, imho, better ?"

A lot? I'll give it to you that there are a few out there but when you look at the ratio of good anime titles to the entire catalogue and do the same comparison with a comparable movie category, I believe anime wins by a landslide. If nothing else, you have a large volume of enjoyable material.

I think the downside to Anime is the translation factor. I know that when I'm watching even the good fl

The appeal to animation is that the only limitation is in the writer and animator's imagination. You can do and visualize things with animation in order to more readily suspend disbelief than you can accomplish in a live action movie in a badly done effect can ruin said suspension of disbelief.

I believe that it was the Spawn movie that first used CG in a well stated and obvious manner - and they did some amazing things with that cloak of his, but it still somehow looked "out of place" because of the unrealistically bright shading used in the coloring.

and really, anime isn't about the drawings, it's about the story and the charecters. It's those same basic elements that drive the appeal of the movie, it's just that using animation removes all restrictions on visuals because you can make whatever you want look however you want without having to make any sacrifices in trying to find a location or actor that fits the director's vision - they can simply DRAW exactly what they want to show.

Animation in movies is beginning to become very widespread in the past few years now that computers are capable of producing some very realistic looking renders. you didn't actually thing that was Toby Macguire or a stuntman doing all those amazing acrobatics did you? Even only a few years ago, you could not have readily achieved those effects on a believable level.

Even if you prefer live action, and that's your perrogative if you do, you're still seeing the effects of animation in live action.

I am not talking giant robots here. I am talking far simpler things. Scene at an airport. Scene at the busiest crossing in tokyo. Scene with a kid.

Ever notice how many of the live action series take place INSIDE? Because it is cheaper to film in a studio then on location. Canadian cities are very popular to shoot series that pretend to be in american cities because it is cheaper to close down a street for a shoot.

You might also notice that many anime involve childeren as the leads. This is a huge problem in live action as there are very strict laws about what you can and cannot make a child do. You might have noticed that series in the west about high school students have actors in their 30's.

Ultimately anime is just another media through wich a story teller can tell their story. There are a lot. Just like you can be told the story of "The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" through a radio-play, a series of books, a series of comics, a tv series, an upcoming movie and even a computer game. All have their own charms and give their own capabilities to the story teller.

I get the idea that you can't imagine those capabilites as you seem to think that only "real" movies are worth it.

A radioplay is very cheap to setup. You simply "tell" the audience you are on a different planet, make some noises and that creates a different planet. A budget of a pound will do it. You only need actors who sound like their part. The ugliest actor can play the most beautifull character. Disadvantage. You need a listener with imagination. A radioplay can also break the 4th wall (I think it is called) and talk to the audience.

Books are even cheaper as you don't even need actors or sound effects. What you write is the world, if the reader has the imagination and you are skilled enough the entire set is created in the mind. People can imagine far more then even the fanciest CG can generate. Even better. A beautifull girl can be the beauty of the reader not the writer. Books don't have a fourth wall. Yo u can talk the reader all you want. Thought by a character is very very easy to express.

Comics/manga take away some of the freedom to imagine but gather the power of "a picture is worth a thousand words". But this comes at the expense of extra effort. You know need two skill sets, telling a story and drawing, wich you didn't need with a plain text book. The 4th wall is starting to close in but thought by a character can still be easily expressed.

TV and movie live action give you to power to create a world and have the viewer experience your vision. You loose some of the imagination, good horror movies don't show horror they make you imagine it, but gain the power of a moving picture speaks a million words. Disadvantage is that you are going to be restricted to the real world. There are only so many things you are allowed to do with actors. You now also need an actor who sounds the part, can act the part and looks like the part.

A computer game gives you that rarest of capabilties. To give the reader, a tiny amount, of control on the story. The text only hitchhiker adventure was much like a book but with the idea of control. A style of storytelling that is not yet fully explored.

Animation comes in with the live action but removes the need to find suitable looking actors and the need to build complex sets or get permission to film in real world location.

Animation gains the power of movie images without the restraint on the imagination of the author. If the author can imagine it then it can be done in animation.

As I said before this isn't just about special effects but about simple things like a war movie involving childeren. Filming in real life locations.

Ultimatly only a snob would dismiss a story telling media. It is the story that matters and how well it is told. If war and peace had been done in a comic would you not have read it? Read Lone wolf and cub sometime

what's exactly the fun of watching a cartoon in a category where a lot of real movies are, imho, better ?

I agree: I stopped reading novels in favour of comic books, stopped reading them in favour of animation, stopped watching that in favour of live action feature films, ditched those in favour of tv movies, then soaps, infomercials and political broadcasts and finally gave up the lot in favour of trolling on Slashdot...

There's definitely one or tow floating around on the bittorrent networks here and there. I saw the GiTS:Innocence preview at Otakon [otakon.com] 2004 in the Production I.G. panel and it looked FANTASTIC.

Most of the movies listed have had their western DVD release so you can probably rent them at the better rental store. Akira and Ghost in the shell almost certainly.

The rarer stuff does not have a western release and force you to either learn japanese or get the "illegal" version from the net. There are plenty of fan subbed versions of anime series and movies out there. Often with better translations then the official releases. Fansubs ain't afraid to use explanations at the top of the screen when somethin

Tatakae! Dainippon Teikoku (The Japanese Imperial, Go!) by Shintaro Kago. This story is an alternate history of WWII by one of the artists who appeared in Secret Comics Japan. The Japanese army have perfected a technique that turns human beings into giants, but for some reason they can only enlarge females. Patriot girls dedicate themselves to their great emperor and become giant weapons against the inhuman Allies. The girls are customized for each purpose. Some girls are made into tanks

Review by a real movie expert [suntimes.com] of an anime movie. Of course some people will still dismiss it because it is a cartoon. That is like dismissing Shindlers List because it is in Black & White.

If you are going to watch this movie I do recommend that you know this. It is not a feel good movie. The most important mistake you can make is to see it as important wich side the kids are on. It is easy to shrug off their suffering as the result of japans own actions. It is an absolute fact that japan has only the historians to thank for the fact that most of their war crimes are forgotten. They were in no ways less then those commited by the germans/austrians. In my personal opion in fact worse. The germans just gassed childeren. They didn't rape them time and time again in pleasure houses for their soldiers. The germans also have paid billions in damages. The japanese haven't even admitted that raping childeren is bad.

It is al to easy to go into this movie with the feelings that japan deserved to be bombed. It did. But these kids were not part of it. They had no more choice then the kids being raped by japanese soldiers. They are ultimately the victims of things outside their controle.

Just as the movie Tora Tora Tora shows how a series of events leads to the start of the pacific war, a series of events where at any time someone might have stopped it all from happening. Grave of the fireflies shows a series of events where two childeren end up dead. Not because of evil actions but because at several steps no-one took action.

Others are angry that the boy took not better care. This boy is not a movie hero, he is based on the author of the story. His owned sister died of starvation because he would when searching for food would feed himself first. He survived. She died. Just as he might have been able to save his sister in real life if he had been a better human being the movie brother might have made smarter choices. What I do think is missing in the movie is the emphasis that there simply wasn't any food to buy. Rice is not enough.

Ultimatly I think this is a road movie. You know from the beginning how it is going to end. What you watch the movie for is the journey. Do not judge the travellers. If you want to do that you better be 100% sure that you are a better human being then the characters. It is easy to blame someone in this story. That takes the guilt away from us. Because the real guilt is that this story is happening all around us today.

This is not an anti-war movie. That is to simple. It is a "this is what war is really like" movie.

If you have read the reviews and still go "but it is a cartoon" then you are one hell of shallow thing.